Vaseline, a popular cosmetics brand owned by Unilever, has launched a new Facebook app that will retouch your photographs in order to make you appear fairer. The app is mainly targeted at Indians and is promoting a new cosmetic product for men from Vaseline.

Indian’s are well known for their despicable obsession with fairness. The sad reality is that not being fair is still considered to be a disadvantage by most sections of the population. In such an environment, it’s not surprising that fairness creams and lotions continue to sell like hot cakes.

The Vaseline Men page also includes several fashion tips for men, with new ones being added regularly. Pankaj Pariha, the man behind the campaign, claims that the response to the entire Vaseline Men campaign “has been pretty phenomenal”. The application currently has close to 9,000 active users.

Origin of Skin Colour

It is probably unfair to pick on Vaseline alone. It’s not doing anything or suggesting anything that hasn’t been done or said before. Television advertisements for similar products from competitors are still getting away with suggesting that having a fair skin complexion is essential for getting jobs or getting married. The real problem is a lot more than skin deep. The real problem lies within the society itself. And until we change our attitudes, blaming a commercial company tending to the demands of the market won’t get us far.

Pallab De is a blogger from India who has a soft spot for anything techie. He loves trying out new software and spends most of his day breaking and fixing his PC. Pallab loves participating in the social web; he has been active in technology forums since he was a teenager and is an active user of both twitter (@indyan) and facebook .